The guitar is a stringed musical instrument with a fretted fingerboard, typically incurved sides, and six or twelve strings, played by plucking or strumming with the fingers or a plectrum (pick). Guitars are generally either electric or acoustic. There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The acoustic guitar generally consists of a hollow body with incurved sides, a fretboard extending to one side with a head at the top. Strings are in tension above a series of individual frets located along the fretboard and extend from the head to the bridge.
The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings' vibration, amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. The classical guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a comprehensive finger-picking technique. The term “finger-picking” can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass, and country guitar playing in the United States.
Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, use an amplifier that can electronically manipulate and shape the tone. Early amplified guitars employed a hollow body, but a solid body was eventually found more suitable, as it was less prone to feedback.
Generally, the strings of the guitar are plucked or strummed with the fingers of the right hand while the fingers of the left hand are placed in patterns on top of the frets to change the key of the string being played. A chord is played by placing the fingers of the left hand in a pattern on the frets while the strings are strummed with the fingers of the right hand. Alternatively, individual strings can be picked by the fingers of the right hand while the note is selected by placement of the fingers of the left hand over the appropriate fret or frets.
One of the problems that learners face is control of placement of the right hand and fingers during picking and strumming. Often players will post or place the small finger or combination of ring finger and small finger on the pick guard near the sound hole to support or brace the right hand in a stable position while its fingers pick or strum the strings. This solution is less than satisfactory for the following reasons: First of all, there is no specific location to place the right-hand fingers of the player since the pick guard covers a fairly large area. Second, since the soundboard of the body is below the height of the strings stretched above the sound hole, the fingers must stretch to be placed on the pick guard leaving little clearance for the other fingers to strum or pick or use a plectrum as desired. For a student learning to play the guitar, this stretch is difficult. Most importantly, it is not possible to support or brace the palm of the right hand while playing a guitar since it would interfere with resonance of the strings. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a pick and strum guide bar that would guide the fingers into a proper location, braced above the strings, with the ability to also support the palm of the right hand while playing.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,927,930 is a stringed instrument hand rest that is nothing more than a single loop of material that supports the hand from the outside. However, this device doesn't provide a deck for supporting the small finger or ring finger and small finger while picking or strumming. Furthermore, there is no portion that sits above the strings to support the hand from below and prevent interference of the hand with the strings.
U.S. Pat. No. D381356 is a guitar hand rest. However, there are no means for attaching the pedestal to the top of the body of the guitar. Also, there are no feet that provide an accurate, easy and precise way to position the hand rest above the strings. Finally, there is no gooseneck, opening, aperture or other structural means for accurately positioning and bracing the small finger or 4th and 5th fingers while picking or strumming the strings with the other 3 or 4 fingers.
Finally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,299,327 and 9,240,168 both teach a stringed musical instrument hand support apparatus. However, these devices use strings or cords with hooks at the ends to secure the hand support apparatus between the sound hole or other opening in the body of the musical instrument and the end of the guitar opposite the head and neck. There is no way to guarantee accurate, precise placement each time the device is used. Also, the hand rest has simple pedestals that rest on the top of the soundboard and can be positioned essentially anywhere above the strings without limitation, thus providing no guidance to the novice guitar player on how to position the hand rest.